York City School District looks to move William Penn home football games to Saturdays

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YORK, Pa. - School district officials made several recommendations Monday to increase security at the football games of William Penn High School in light of a shooting Friday night in the parking lot outside Small's Athletic Field.

The district will look to move its remaining home football games to Saturday afternoons, officials said at a school district athletics committee meeting.

"From a tactical standpoint, being able to see, like my mama always said, 'You bring things to the light of day,'" Chief Michael Muldrow of the York City School District Police Department said. "It's the most prudent response to make all parties involved more comfortable."

District officials also expanded on just what happened Friday night in the moments leading up to the exchange of gunfire.

Two men were ejected from the stadium and escorted to the parking lot. About 15 minutes later, the men were still in the parking lot when police attempted to remove them again, according to district superintendent Dr. Eric Holmes.

"As they moved toward the middle of the parking lot area, they engaged in an altercation, a verbal altercation with another group of individuals," he said. "At that time, there was gunfire."

Board members said there was a record crowd on-hand to watch the William Penn-McCaskey rivalry game, led 26-6 by McCaskey with about eight minutes remaining when gunfire brought a halt to the game.

"You set up everything, you put everything in place logistically to be prepared for the event, I was ready to be a fan, and then having to switch my role and put my hat back on and jump back into business, to have it be interrupted by somebody's nonsense from the outside was sad," Muldrow said.

Holmes will also seek additional funding for additional security measures such as armed patrols, increasing game security staff from 16 to 26 people, adding additional cameras in the parking lot at Small's Athletic Field, and creating an on-site surveillance room so that security staff can monitor the cameras.

"We want people to participate in the renaissance of the William Penn Senior High School, but we also want people to feel safe," he said.

Those recommendations would have to be approved at a future meeting of the school board.